Acknowledging the “awkward” circumstances that prompted his departure last fall, Jack Eichel doesn’t expect a warm welcome when he returns to Buffalo on Thursday night.
“It obviously ended a little bit messy,” the former Sabres captain expressed to ESPN NHL reporter Emily Kaplan. “But I hope [fans] can look past some of the things that happened maybe in the last year and think about the previous five and a half, six years that I was there and everything that I tried to do for the community, everything that I feel like I put forth on the ice as a hockey player, and know I just tried to do as much as I could for the city."
Eichel, now of the Vegas Golden Knights, signed the richest deal in Sabres franchise history back in 2017, an eight-year contract worth $80 million. However, he later had a falling out with the team over how to treat a herniated disk suffered last March during the 2020-21 pandemic-shortened season.
Buffalo’s medical staff refused to sign off on Eichel’s preferred artificial disc replacement — a procedure that had never been performed on an active NHL player — insisting he undergo fusion surgery instead.
With neither side budging, Eichel was eventually stripped of his captaincy at the start of training camp this past September, a slight that effectively ended his time in Buffalo with the Sabres. The team would trade Eichel to the Golden Knights less than two months later.
“I was frustrated,” Eichel admitted. “At that point, it just felt like they were toying with me. I was pretty over it.”
After a three-month recovery from surgery (the fusion operation favored by Buffalo would have shelved him for six months), Eichel finally made his debut for the Golden Knights in February. The 25-year-old has made an immediate impact, showing no signs of rust with seven points (3+4) in his first 10 games.
“The constant filtering out of coaches and [general managers] wore me out,” said Eichel, reflecting on, what was, a turbulent Sabres tenure. “You could feel the pressure there and the pressure to have success. And when you're not able to do that, it definitely takes a toll on you."
Drafted with the second overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, the North Chelmsford, Massachusetts native tallied 139 goals in his six seasons with Buffalo, earning All-Star recognition three times in that span (2018-20).
Eichel never reached the postseason with Buffalo, though he should conquer that hill soon enough with Vegas making a push for its fifth-straight playoff appearance.
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